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Little Yellow Roses

[Trevor Peacock]

British pop singer Adam Faith sang Little Yellow Roses in 1962 on his eponymous second LP, Little Yellow Roses. The words are credited to Shakespearean actor and songwriter Trevor Peacock (born May 19, 1931), and the arrangement is by John Barry. This version is rendered in a tinkly, staccato polka style, as if played on a Wurlitzer.

The Mudcat Café thread Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War argues that this in a Civil War song for which Peacock would have been a bit too young. Maybe he translated a Spanish song after the Civil War was over?

Former Witch of Elswick, Fay Hield learned Little Yellow Roses at the Forest School Camps and sang it in 2010 on her first solo CD, Looking Glass, accompanied by Sam Sweeney on nyckelharpa. Her partner, Jon Boden sang Yellow Roses as the July 14, 2010 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

Lyrics

Adam Faith sings Little Yellow RosesFay Hield sings Little Yellow Roses

Laid on my back with the sun in my eyes;
Soon I shall know what no living men know.
All of my life’s been a fight against lies,
Death brings the truth, and it’s my turn to go.

I lay on my back with the sun in my eyes;
Soon I will know what no living man knows.
All of my life’s been a fight against lies,
Death brings the truth, and it’s my turn to know.

Chorus (after each verse):
Send my mother a lock of my hair,
Send my father the watch that he gave me.
Tell my brother to follow me if he dare,
Tell them I’m lost now and no-one can save me.
Remember, remember,
Send my love little yellow roses.
Chorus (after each verse):
Send my mother a lock of my hair,
Send my father the watch that he gave me.
Tell my brother to follow me if he dare,
Tell them I’m lost now and no-one can save me.
Remember, remember,
Send my love little yellow roses.

My father taught me that all men are equal,
Whatever colour, religion or land;
Told me to fight for the things I believed in
That's what I did—with a gun in my hand.

My father taught me that all men were equal,
Whatever colour, religion or land;
Taught me to fight for the things I believed in
This I have done with a gun in my hand.

I met my love in a garden of roses,
She pricked her finger, so sharp the thorn grows.
We made a promise that ‘til death should part us
We’d never look on that wild yellow rose.

I met my love in a garden of roses,
She pricked her finger, how sharp the thorn grows.
We made a promise that ‘til death did part us
We’d never look on that wild yellow rose.